ANGELUS – an Audio-Visual Installation by Stefania Stoeva and Nikola Nikolov

May 16 – June 15, 2026

Opening: May 16, 2026, 4:00 PM

Ruse Art Gallery

 

“ANGELUS” is an audio-visual installation that approaches memory not as something stable and complete, but as a living process — something that constantly changes, disappears, and returns in new forms.

The project is based on two ways in which the brain processes information. The first is active interference — a moment when part of memory temporarily “withdraws” to make room for new impressions. This functions as a form of protection, but also as a subtle reordering of our internal structure.

This is followed by the quieter process of reconsolidation — when forgotten or blocked content returns, but no longer in the same way. It is altered, rearranged, and placed within a new context.

The installation focuses on those moments when information arrives in overwhelming volumes and the mind begins to “filter” and block parts of it. In this way, gaps emerge — not as absence, but as temporary concealment.

At the center of the work stands a cubic structure made of metal pipes — a rigid and clearly defined frame that creates a sense of structure and control. Attached to it are walls made of glycerin plates with visible seams, making the process tangible and subtly emphasizing the vulnerability of the entire construction.

Within these plates, images from analog photographic processes are “sealed” — traces of information that are not fully accessible, yet remain somewhere beneath the surface.

“ANGELUS” invites the viewer to think of memory not as something that disappears or is preserved intact, but as something continuously rewritten — gently, quietly, and sometimes almost imperceptibly.